The Spring 2015 MFA Public Critiques at UIUC start April 3rd with guest artist and critic José Lerma. He will give a lecture on Thursday April 2nd at 5:30pm in Art and Design room #107 and the critiques will be held Friday April 3rd at South Studios Building #5 from 9:00am-5:00pm.

José Lerma was born in 1971 in Seville Spain and grew up in Puerto Rico. His solo exhibitions include Andrea Rosen Gallery, Galeria Roberto Paradise, Galerie Xavier Hufkens, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Green Gallery, Gallery Loock, Galeria Marta Cervera, Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, NC, Arario Gallery in Seoul and Galleria Il Capricorno in Venice, Italy. He has taken part in group exhibitions at Lehman Maupin Gallery, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Institute Valecia d’art Modern in Spain, Innova, Museo de arte de Ponce, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Deste Fountation for Contemporary art, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Museum of Contemporary art Detroit , Museo del Barrio, Josh Lilley Gallery, ZiherSmith Gallery in NYC, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Ex-Teresa in Mexico City, and Loyal in Stockholm,.His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Art Forum, Time Out NY, The L Magazine, Die Welt, ABC and Flash Art. He attended the CORE program in Houston, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and has an MFA from the University of Wisconsin Madison (2002) and a BA from Tulane University. He is currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Figure One will be featuring MFA candidate Daniella Pavlić’s Deadweight in the Figure One project space. The exhibition examines the power dynamics of indigenous cultures in relation to national identity and transnationalism. Informed by the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-90s), the works displayed within the exhibition function as points of reference to guide viewers through the multiple narratives of displacement and violence imposed on Mayan communities.

Laura Wennstrom, a 3rd year MFA candidate in the studio art program at UIUC will be showing new works at Indi Go Artist Co-op in downtown Champaign, October 3-14. There will be an opening reception on October 4 from 5:00 to 8:00pm. To see more of her work, please visit www.laurawennstrom.com.

We are pleased to announce the launch of Rhizome of Ixil, a non-profit video game created by artist Daniella Pavlic. A launch party will be held on July 19th, 2014 at the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center. Sponsored by the UC-IMC and Urbana Arts Grant, this launch party is free to the public and the whole community is invited to participate.

This event will showcase the video game and provide a chance for dialog around the current Latin American politics, specifically the Maya Ixil Community. There will be a short screening of ‘How to Nail a Dictator’ followed up by a demo of Rhizome of Ixil. A panel discussion will be held for questions regarding the game design and history of the Ixil community. The last portion of the launch will be open to the public for play-testing the game and giving feedback. Beverages and snacks will also be available.

A series of 20 minute presentations by MFA Studio graduate candidates on their MFA Thesis & Exhibition work. All presentations will take place in the Krannert Art Museum East Gallery. Click here to view 2014 MFA catalog.